Ohio Senate pushing sales-tax holiday

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 27, 2014 at 9:28 AM

If you're looking to buy a new laptop or tablet this year, you might circle Aug. 1 on the calendar. The Ohio Senate voted yesterday to approve a sales-tax holiday during the first weekend in August, when back-to-school items including computers, equipment, clothes and supplies would not be subject to the state's 5.75 percent sales tax, or county sales taxes.

Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch

If you’re looking to buy a new laptop or tablet this year, you might circle Aug. 1 on the calendar.

The Ohio Senate voted yesterday to approve a sales-tax holiday during the first weekend in August, when back-to-school items including computers, equipment, clothes and supplies would not be subject to the state’s 5.75 percent sales tax, or county sales taxes.

The bill now goes to the House, where Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, said he is unsure if it will pass.

The sales-tax holiday is an idea that has been discussed in various forms over the years. Sen. Kevin Bacon, R-Minerva Park, said it would save families an estimated $78 million annually, according to a study done by the Economics Center in the Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati.

“It creates almost a Black Friday-like excitement. It creates a flurry of activity to our stores,” Bacon told his colleagues, noting that 18 other states have similar holidays. “On some of these most-basic items, if someone wants to go out and save a few dollars … they can go to the store to help their kids get started for the year.”

The sales-tax exemption would include clothing items up to $100 each, although not sports equipment; school supplies and instructional materials up to $20 each; computers, laptops or tablets up to $1,000 each; and school computer supplies such as printers up to $750 each.

Pointing to an Economics Center study, Bacon said the average household would save $38. He said the spike in economic activity during the weekend also would include purchases of nonexempt products and services, which could offset much of the tax-revenue loss.

The nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission estimates the bill would cost the state $36 million a year in revenue, plus an additional $9 million for counties.

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio opposed the bill, noting that factors including state funding cuts have left counties more dependent on sales-tax revenue.

Sen. Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood, took to quoting the conservative Tax Foundation, which calls sales-tax holidays a political gimmick that does not promote economic growth.

The bill would need to pass the legislature by the end of April to take effect by Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, after another partisan debate, GOP lawmakers gave final approval to Senate Bill 216, which would require voters to add date of birth and a current and former address to a provisional-ballot envelope, in addition to the current requirement of a printed name, form of identification and a signature. It now goes to Gov. John Kasich.

Supporters say the additional information will allow the envelopes to double as a voter-registration form. But Democrats argued it does little more than allow for additional reasons to toss out a provisional ballot, many of which are cast by those who moved but did not update their registration.

The bill also puts into law a 2012 federal court decision that requires Ohio to count ballots cast at the correct polling place but the wrong precinct, known as “right church, wrong pew” ballots. Democrats said it should be expanded to also include ballots cast at the wrong polling place, arguing that often occurs as a result of poll-worker error.